Other speakers have clearly indicated why there is a need for this Bill, mainly because of the tragedies that occurred at Ellis Park and Orkney.
For myself, however, this Bill reminds me of my life on a farm as a boy of 10 years old. My father was a sugar cane farmer near Dumisa, not far from the lower KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. I was at boarding school and I had a huge passion for sport. During one holiday I asked my father whether he could arrange a race over a mile on the farm, with the labourers' children, including me and children from the other neighbouring farms.
The venue for the event was to be at our farm. The prizes were a sheep for the winning farm labourers and chocolates for the winning runners. The event took place on a Sunday. The families and their children arrived on tractor trailers from nearby farms. Because of the novel nature of the event and the excitement it had created, other curious spectators arrived from surrounding rural areas. A large crowd had assembled in an expectant mood.
The event became extremely festive under the boiling summer sun with large amounts of mageu [a nonalcoholic fermented brew] being consumed. After the various races had taken place, there was a mood swing that surfaced later in the day. The effects of alcohol amid the intense rivalries took hold. Violence ensued and spoiled what was supposed to be a unique occasion.
My experience from that event, however, led me to the following conclusions. Number one, black guys run faster than white guys; that hasn't changed. Number two, planning was required. Three, there was inadequate supervision and security. And four, there was no first aid or medical aid to help the injured. I wonder, if the police had been present at that event many years ago, whether they would have arrested the organiser, my father, or the only white runner, me, or all the black runners.
That experience and many other similar experiences around the country, both large and small, that have resulted in unsafe events and venues have necessitated the need for this Bill.
The Bill provides for measures to safeguard the safety and security of persons and property at sports, recreational, cultural and similar events held at stadiums and on routes; and further provides, inter alia, for accountability of event organisers, risk categorisation of events, safety and security, event ticketing, control of access of spectators and vehicles, issuing of safety certificates, deployment of security services and public liability insurance for events.
I wish to focus on the areas of the Bill that have special importance to Cope. One, with regard to events ticketing, this Bill has tightened up loose ends that exist in the system. South Africans have a habit of buying tickets on the last day of an event, hence the Ellis Park disaster. The Bill ensures that same-day ticket sales will not take place at the venue in order to prevent potential stampedes. The new system will also help eliminate ticket touting, fraud and football hooliganism.
Two, with regard to public liability insurance, this requirement has closed the loophole in the system. Previously, victims of violence and disasters or surviving spouses and families would attempt to get compensation from the government. Event organisers and venue operators now, however, must be in possession of valid public liability insurance with the insurance company registered with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FDIC.
Three, the venue operations centre, VOC, will ensure that all role-players involved in the event co-ordinate efficiently and safely all elements of the event, eg road access, policing, disaster management, etc. The police commissioner, in conjunction with the VOC, will make a determination of the risk of the event, that is whether it will be considered low or high risk.
For high-risk events, the VOC will be able to monitor access and exit points in the event of a disaster. Further, they will be able to identify people inciting violence within the venue.
With regard to rural events - and this is a challenge - it is apparent that there are going to be challenges to the implementation of the Bill in rural areas. At public hearings in Umtata, people indicated that there was only one ambulance in the entire region and that the police do not have enough equipment or the right vehicles to adequately control a large crowd. An education campaign on the Bill will have to take place in rural areas to ensure compliance. Five, with regard to the World Cup, this Bill will bring South Africa in line with other major international sporting destinations. It will also dovetail into the Fifa World Cup requirements on safety. Further, it will enhance South Africa's position as a host of major global sporting events and other events.
Public hearings were held in five provinces and a good cross-section of opinion was canvassed in both rural and urban areas. This opinion was collated from event organisers, sponsors, schools, sports federations, clubs, civic groups, religious groups, municipalities, etc - that is a full cross-section of South African society. We in Cope are pleased that much of the input was included in the final Bill.
Cope would like to congratulate the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, hon Komphela, on his energetic and thorough work on this Bill. His approach was inclusive, which other committees could do well to emulate.
We would also like to extend our thanks to the support staff, the SAPS and the legal teams for their valued contribution. A full range of opinion was heard and respected, and that resulted in broad consensus across party lines for the Bill.
Although Cope had some reservations about the practicality of some tenets of the Bill, we believe that the positives overwhelmingly outweigh any reservations that we have expressed as they have been largely addressed.
Cope will support the Bill. [Time expired.]